In a new interview, though, series director Neil Druckmann suggests that Uncharted 4 will put a hard stop to the story of series protagonist Nathan Drake, one that would make it difficult for the series to continue under Sony.

"At the end of the day Sony owns Uncharted and they can do whatever they want," Druckmann told Eurogamer at a recent event. "But with the end of this story it will be really hard to do a sequel with Nathan Drake. Maybe there'll be a prequel, maybe it will be a different character—I don't know. But this is the end for Nathan Drake."

"He’s at the height of his popularity, so it’s not a good business decision," Druckmann continued. "But I feel like the best way to honor him is to go out on top, to finish his story."

Further Reading

Druckmann's comments to Eurogamer match quotes he gave to UK newspaper The Sun almost word for word, suggesting this is a carefully crafted media message for the masses and not an off-the-cuff suggestion in a single interview. And while this isn't the first time Druckmann has publiclysuggested that Uncharted 4 will be Nathan Drake's last game, it's the strongest indication yet that Drake's eventual fate will be the kind it's impossible to come back from. That doesn't necessarily mean a final death for the long-suffering Drake, but Druckmann's statements certainly make the game's "A Thief's End" subtitle takes on even more significance.

Elsewhere in the Eurogamer interview, Druckmann said players won't be able to alter Drake's fate thanks to Uncharted 4's recently revealed branching-conversation structure. "The thing I want to make sure we're clear about is that we're not making Mass Effect," he said. "Uncharted has a very specific story, it has a very specific ending that's very definitive to the franchise. But every once in a while we felt a dialogue tree would really bring you more into the scene."

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Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl